• ** My Potential idea for restaurants/butchery customers: People want to fill their freezers with quality meats, they want to support locally owned businesses... Why not consider putting together meat bundles for their freezers, thus keeping your employees busy cutting steaks, packaging items, possible even buying half pigs and breaking them down. Demand for processed beef and pork sides is extremely high. You can buy locally raised market pig sides from us relatively cheap, and it's a great way to sell the entire side, and increase your value with your existing customers.
• ** My Second idea for restaurants: People may not want to buy an entire pig, nor have to figure out how to cook it. What if you were to offer fully cooked family meal items like lasagna, meat loaf, spaghetti, sides, etc. that people can buy and put in their freezers? Selling curb pick up meals is a great way to start, but why not offer them higher volume purchases for their freezer? There will come a time when people will not want to leave their houses unless they have to.

• March 20 - National Ravioli Day
• March 21 - National French Bread Day
• National Corn Dog Day
• March 22 - National Bavarian Crepes Day
• March 23 - National Chip & Dip Day
• National Melba Toast day
• March 24 - National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day
• National Cheesecake Day
• March 25 - National Lobster Newburg Day
• March 26 - National Nougat Day
• National Spinach Day
• March 27 - National Spanish Paella Day

• Beef –  Chuck Rolls went down, Ribeyes, inside rounds, peeled knuckle, strip loins, top butts, bottom round flats and ground beef went up.
• Pork - Market Pigs are still just $0.95/#. Fresh bellies, boneless Callies, fresh hams, pork butts, pork steaks, baby back ribs, blade on pork loins, smoked pork loins, all pork chops, boneless pork loins, smoked bone in hams and bacon all went up. Some fresh sausages went up as well.
• Chicken – Chicken prices are unchanged!
• Turkey – We have locked in whole frozen turkey prices through the remainder of 2020. Pre-Order now.

• Boxed beef cutout values sharply higher on good demand and heavy offerings. Select and Choice chuck and round cuts higher while rib cuts steady. Choice loin cuts steady while Select lower.
• Retail demand for beef continues to dominate the news as consumers load up on food causing rapid turnover in the supermarkets and calling for replenished supplies. Packers are expected to step up Saturday's slaughter schedule in order to satisfy demand for beef to restock the meat counters. Eating patterns are in flux as restaurants close and eating at home and with take out become changing lifestyle habits. It is unclear how changing those habits will impact beef consumption but guesses are it will not decline. 
• The choice cutout prices began a leveling out process after a three day increase of $40 on the choice boxes and an all time record for a three day run. Rapidly turning over meat counters will require more product until supplies catch up.
• The livestock industry still relies on many auction markets across the country to connect breeders, stocker operators and cattle feeders. Cattle are offered live in the sales rings and buyers in the seats surrounding the ring, bid and buy. The suggestion that all meeting places for greater than 10 people be shuttered, could pose a threat to this important marketing tool for producers. It also could help speed the movement to remote cameras and bidders. Online auctions currently exist but are often plagued with glitches. 
• Beef demand will be driven by the consumer. Less beef will be distributed through food service companies. Restaurants will close and those that do not close will find diminished traffic. Fast food may survive this event because of drive up windows and take out orders. The run on supermarket meat supplies of the past few days is some indication of the change in purchasing patterns by consumers. A major component of the government rescue packages will be to provide financial assistance to those most impacted by disruptions to their wages. This disruption should be temporary and the bridge should keep beef demand on a steady course domestically.

• Most animal coronaviruses infect the intestinal or respiratory tracts and cause diarrhea or respiratory disease. Linda Saif, virologist and distinguished professor in the Food Animal Health Research Program at The Ohio State University, says the best examples of coronaviruses that infect the gut and cause diarrhea and deaths in pigs are PEDV and PDCoV that first emerged in the United States in 2013-14 and are still present in pigs. These viruses are members of two different groups of coronaviruses — alpha and delta CoV. Saif explains they are genetically distinct and do not cross-protect against one another.
• Heather Fowler, director of producer and public health at National Pork Board, reiterates there is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 can be spread through food or food packaging.
• China’s agriculture ministry announced a new case of African swine fever in pigs in Sichuan province that were illegally transported from other provinces. The outbreak was discovered in Leshan on a truck transporting 111 pigs from other provinces, Reuters reports.
• The bad news is that globally, the disease isn’t going away. More and more countries are declaring positive ASF cases. 

• Whole broiler/fryer prices are firm for all sizes. Offerings are light to moderate with some premiums noted. Retail demand is moderate to good, and food service demand is light entering the weekend. Floor stocks are balanced to light. Processing schedules are normal to over time with reports of plants working extra shifts to satisfy increased needs. Market activity is moderate to active. 
• In the parts structure, the market tone is steady to firm on boneless skinless breasts and most dark meat items. Wings are steady to weak, and the balance of parts are steady to mostly firm. Offerings of boneless skinless breasts are tight, wings are moderate to heavy with jumbo sizes in the weakest position. The remainder of parts are light to moderate. Market activity for parts is moderate to active. In production areas, live supplies are moderate. Weights are mixed, but noted as mostly desirable.

• The market on white trims mostly steady, fresh tom breast meat and destrapped tenderloins steady while frozen white meat is steady to weak. Demand on scapula fresh tom breast meat and destrapped tenderloins light to moderate, balance of white trims light. Offerings of scapula and fresh white meat light to moderate, balance of white trims and frozen white meat moderate to heavy. 
• The market on 4-8 lb. and institutional sized bone-in breasts steady with some finding a stronger undertone on 4-8 lb. breasts. Demand light to moderate with increased interest noted on 4-8 lb. breasts. Offerings mostly moderate. The market on tom and hen bulk parts is steady to firm, strongest for retail destined product. Demand light to good, mostly moderate with retail interest the most active. Offerings of hen bulk parts very light to moderate. Offering of tom bulk parts light to moderate. Ground turkey demand good. 
• The fresh thigh meat market is steady while frozen steady to weak. Demand light to moderate with fresh the most active and some increased interest noted on frozen. Offerings of fresh light to moderate and frozen moderate to heavy. 
• The mechanically separated turkey market is steady. Demand moderate with improvement noted. Offerings light to moderate, mostly light. Trading slow to moderate.